Buddhism in Australia Traditions in Change

90 John

S/remmr

regulatory

role.

Speaking

aboutthedifficultiesencountered

by

theThienHoa

Nunnery

in

Cabramatta.J

hesaid:

[H]ouse

temples

arenot

purpose

built.

anditisaslowconversion

process

into

a

temple.

The

temples

do

good

workin

teaching

and

helping

local

people.

The

nunsarenot

usedto

regulation.

andinVietnamcar

parking

is

not

anissue.

There

are

complaints.

Councilthenintervenesandevenif

usage

conforms.

there

may

be

problems

with

buildingregulations.

Herethere

is

a

problem

with

fire

regulations

andfineshavebeenissued.Itisadifficult

situation,

ascouncil

wouldbeliableif

theygavepermission.

(personal

communication.Councillor

ThangNgo.

Fairfield

City

Council

2005)

Councillor

Ngo

believes thereareaccess and

equity

issues

that need to be

addressed:

The

application

of

chapter.

verseandrulewon‘twork.

“thereneedstobea

change

tothe

Development

ControlPlan.

However.

itisdifficulttoconduct

a

public

exhibitionanddebate

in

thecurrent

climate.

andotherissueshave

higherpriority

withincouncill

The

temple

is

operating

inaclimateof

uncertainty

andthenunshave

engaged

urban

planners

toassistthemin

working

withthecouncil.

TheKhmerKrom

Temple

inRossmore.‘

subject

oftheSBSTV

program.

‘Over

theFence‘

(aprogramlooking

atthelivesandculturesof

migrant

communities

in

suburbia).

is anotherBuddhist

community

that has

undergone significant

struggle

to

develop

a

temple

inthe

presence

ahostilelocal

community.

Thesemi-

nu'alsitewaschosentoavoidtheconflictassociatedwithtrafiicand

parking

in

suburbanareas.Council

required

the

preparation

ofa

masterplan

andadvised

the

community

thatitshouldconsiderandillustratethescenariofor

long-term

growth.

Thelocal

response

tothe

proposal

was

aggressive

and

damning,

including

references

to

‘frightening

thehorsesand

being

an

eyesore‘.

Itis

noteworthy

that

thisISanenvironmentwhere

heavyhaulage

vehiclesare

parked

andlie

rusting

inthe

landscape.

The

community

has

spentmany

tensofthousandsofdollars

onconsultantsandcouncilfees.The

templecurrently

remains

in

the

original

poultry

cold

storagefacility

onsiteandwas

forcedtoremove

theS

metre-high

gold

Buddha

(the‘eyesore‘)

fromthesite.Plansare

being

revisedin

light

of

local

response.however,

the

temple'sright

toremaininthatlocationwas

upheld.

More

careful

planning

and

developmentprocesses

thatinvolveconsidered

cross-cultural

communication
strategies

could

alleviatemuchofthe

struggle

forall

parties.

VenerableThich

Quan

Bafromthe

Nguyen

'l'hieu

temple

in

CanleyVale.s

inan

interviewwithDaiLeonABCRadio

says:

Many

ofthese

temples

are

ministering

to

refugee

communities

Monksand

nunscomewrth

empty

hands.

they

arenot

part

ofahierarchical

structureand

Sydney,

a

citygrowing

within

91

thereisnocentral

fund.

They

are

encouraged

tobe

independent

and

go

out

intothe

community

so

they

startinasmall

way

andlook

for

supporters.

It

isnot

possible

toafford

torenta

place

ot‘asscmhly

aswell

asrunthehouse

temple.

Itcouldtake

twentyyears

to

purchase

a

biggerproperty.

Society

needs

tobe

generous.

(ABC

Radio

National

2005)

VenerableThich

Quan

Baconsidersthe

followingqualities

essential:

[F]lexibility

and

understanding

by

Councils

intheir

approach

to

dealing

with

temples.

A

temple

is

nota

place

of

worship;

the

gathering

isfor

very

varied

purposes.

If

parking

andnoiseare

acceptable

to

neighbours

thenheseesthisas

a

private

civilmatter.

ratherthananissue

of

regulatingreligious

communities.

Council‘s

planning

roleneedstoevolve

to

develop

new

regulations.

Thereare

insufiicient

temples

forthe

population

andso

finding

suitable

properties

will

bean

ongoingproblem.Many

groups

are

mushrooming.

asthereisneedfor

moraleducation

given

thecrisisinsecular

society.

(ABC

Radio

National

2005)

In

2004.

Bankstown

City

Council

released

Development

Control Plan No.

19

7

Places of

Public

Worship.

Bankstown

has amuch

higher

proportion

of

non-Christianadherents

than

Sydney

does

(19.1per

cent

compared

to9.5

per

cent),

anda

greaterproportion

of

non-Englishspeakers

(46.2per

cent

compared

to

27.6

per

cent),

Theresearchshows

thatthedemandfor

buildingsby

non—Ch

stian

communities

is

likely

toincrease

in the

comingyears

asthesecommunities

currently

have

a

disproportionately

smallnumberof

buildings

forthenumber

ofadherents:

‘The

implication

is

thatMuslimsandBuddhists

tendto

go

outside

Bankstownto

worship

orthat

their smallnumbersof

places

of

worship

each

involve

large

numbersof

people

andassociatedtrafiic

movement‘

(Development

Control Plan

No.

19).

In

planning

forthe

likely growth

of

places

of

public

worship

and

toaccommodate

these

places

in

ways

that

mitigate

conflictwithin.

theBankstown

City

Councilhas

developedDevelopment

ControlPlanNo.

19 to

establisha

level

playing

field

whereall

groups

encounter

consistent

regulations.

Ofconcern

tocouncilwasthe

potential

fordecline

in

goodwill

betweencultures.

whereissues

ot‘racebecomeconfused

withmatters

oflanduseand

neighbourhood

amenity.Additionally,

council

hasdecidednot

torezonelandwith

‘special

uscs‘.

zoning

as

itbecomesavailable

for

redevelopment,

inordertomaintain

theavail-

ability

of

larger

sitesfornon-residential

orcultural

uses.

Bankstown’s

Development

Control Plan No.

19 considers and

prescribes

location.

height,

setbacks,

site

coverage.parking.

traffic

impact.

noise.

landscaping,

operation

of

establishment, ancillary

uses.

services.

food

preparation.

safety.

security

and

accessibility,

waterconservationand

energyefiiciency.Significantly.

the

Development

Control

Planlimitsthe

floorareaofthe

assembly

area

ina

residential

zone

2(a),requires

aminimum

allotmentsizeof 800

square

metres

and

tiesminimum

parking

provision

tothesizeof

the

assembly

area.